In Memory of the Late Director, Charles D. SURH

Director Charles D. SURH of the IBS Academy of Immunology and Microbiology (AIM) passed away on October 7 (Korean local time) in San Diego, US. The world-renowned scientist in immunology was 56.

The late director received his B.S. in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego and earned his Ph.D. in immunology from the University of California, Davis. He completed a postdoctoral program and served as senior researcher, assistant professor, and full professor at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). After being selected as the director of AIM in 2012, he returned to Korea and was also appointed as a professor of POSTECH.

Director SURH is a world leading immunologist who presented over 120 papers from 1984. When he was at TSRI, he published papers demonstrating the entire process from birth to death of T cells in world-renowned journals, such as Nature and Science. In particular, he discovered for the first time that only 1% of T cells developed in the thymus fight external invaders. With such outstanding achievements, he was honored with the Ho-Am Prize in Medicine in 2007 and was selected as 100 Distinguished minds who will shine Korea in 2010.

After returning to Korea, he focused on research to identify the interaction mechanism between the immune system and symbiotic microorganisms. His studies demonstrating how food induces immunologic unresponsiveness and competition for survival among immune cells maintains immune balance were published in Science (February 2017) and Immunity (July 2017), respectively. He was diagnosed with cancer in early 2015 but his illness could not stop him from conducting research. He continued his research while receiving treatment for cancer.

Memorial space will be operated from October 10 to 11 at room 143, Biotech Center, POSTECH, Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.